While I fully support the sentiment and effort behind it, #DefundThePolice might be the worst slogan for a Progressive social movement that I’ve heard.
It does not mean completely defunding police departments, though some municipalities have decided it's easier to disband their force and start from scratch than reform their existing department.
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(2) comments
Except about 85% of police budgets are salaries and benefits. The remainder is largely equipment. There is very little, maybe 5% of any police budget that can be cut. Goodluck getting social workers to handle mental health calls. They won't respond to the type of calls cops do which involve families calling because a person is acting violently, harming himself or a family member due to being off his meds. The social worker comes in later. Good luck deciding which video is 'excessive force' and which is not. The police are actually allowed to use force to take someone fighting into custody. How many punches or hits with a baton that takes is kind of subjective. Most people have not been in a fight their entire lives and a cop fighting someone is not pretty on video but 99% of the time it is not excessive. Good luck with all the experimentation with society. Call us when you find out it doesn't work and you need us. By then, most of the good cops may have retired, leaving the ones you don't want.
Corbett lays out a good case for change. Now it’s up to us to make it happen.
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